The South to North Water Diversion Project in China is the largest of its kind ever
undertaken. The project involves drawing water from southern rivers and supplying it to the
dry north.
This massive scheme has already taken 50 years from conception to commencement and is
expected to take almost as long to construct. Planned for completion in 2050, it will
eventually divert 44.8 billion cubic metres of water annually to the population cent
res of the drier north. When finished, the work will link China’s four main rivers the Yangtze, Yellow River, Huaihe and Haihe and requires the construction of three diversion routes, stretching south to north across the eastern, central and western parts of the country.
The complete project is expected to cost $62bn more than twice as much as the country’s controversial Three Gorges Dam. South to north water diversion project background Northern China has long been a centre of population, industry and agriculture and with all three growing apace, the per capita share of the region’s limited water resources has inevitably kept falling. Historically this has led to the over exploitation of groundwater
often supplying urban and industrial development at the expense of agriculture leading to severe water shortages in
rural areas. In addition, land subsidence and the region’s frequent sandstorms have also been linked to theexcessive use of groundwater.
“The South to North Water project will divert 44.8 billion cubic metres of water annually.”
The late chairman Mao Zedong first proposed the idea of the diversion project in 1952, intending the ambitious scheme to ease the growing water shortages in the cities of Beijing and Tianjin and the northern provinces of Hebei, Henan and Shandong. On 23rd August 2002 50 years later after extensive research, planning and discussion,
the project was approved by the State Council and work began on the eastern route of the project in December, construction commencing on the central route a year later.
A special limited liability company has been created to cover the construction, operation and
maintenance of the main project, with each province being required to set up a water supply company to manage thelocal administration and infrastructure elements. Eastern route of water diversion project
The eastern route was expected to supply Shandong Province and the northern part of Jiangsu during 2007 a year ahead of the original schedule linking Shandong with the Yangtze River and bringing water north to the HuangHuaiHai Plain via the BeijingHangzhou Grand Canal, but was delayed.
Diverted from a major branch of Yangtze River, near Yangzhou city, the water will travel
along existing river channels to the Weishan
mountains of Shandong, before crossing the
Yellow River via a tunnel and flowing to Tianjin.
The finished diversion will be slightly over 1,155km long and involves the construction of 23
pumping stations with the installed capacity of 453.7MW in the firs
t stage alone to
complement the seven existing ones, which will themselves be rehabilitated and upgraded.
This part of the project will also include nearly 9km of tunnels, from the outlet of Dongping
Lake to the inlet of the Weilin Canal, including a 634m
long siphon section, together with
two 9.3m diameter horizontal tunnels 70m under the Huanghe riverbed.
Several key projects of the eastern route have been completed. However, the work on the
route was delayed due to farm and industrial pollution that enda
ngers the quality of water.
It is expected to be completed by 2013.
Water diversion project central route
Construction of the central route began in December 2003. It was planned to be finished
before the commencement of Beijing Olympic Games in August 200
8 to provide Beijing with
drinking water. However, by September 2008, only 307km of the central route had been
completed.
The central route diverts water from the Danjiangkou reservoir on the Han River via new
canals near the west edge of the Huanghuaihai
Plain to flow through Henan and Hebei
Provinces to Beijing
–
a diversion route totalling some 1,267km in length.
“The central route project has been postponed to 2014 due
to the expansion of the Danjiangkou reservoir.”
The nearby city of Tianjin will als
o draw water from the trunk line near Xushui in Hebei
Province. Initially designed to transfer 9.5 billion cubic meters of water, by 2030 some 13
–
14 billion cubic metres will be flowing along this system.
The work also includes the construction of two tun
nels of 8.5m internal diameter some 7km
long, with a flow design of 500m³/s.
Declining reserves in the Danjiangkou Reservoir have led to the suggestion of drawing water
from the Three Gorges Reservoir to bolster the supply and meet the demands of this par
t of
the project.
The water from Han River is yet to come through the completed canal, however water in the
canal flows from various Hebei Province reservoirs. The central route project was scheduled
for completion by 2010 but has been postponed to 2014 du
e to environmental concerns and
for the expansion of the Danjiangkou reservoir in the route.
Western route of water diversion
Construction of the western route
–
which involves working on the Qinghai
–
Tibet Plateau
–
between 3,000m
–
5,000m above sea level
–
is scheduled to begin in 2010 and will involve
overcoming some major engineering and climatic challenges. Once completed in 2050, the
project will bring 4 billion cubic metres of water from three tributaries of the Yangtze
–
the
Tongtian, Yalong and Dadu r
ivers
–
nearly 500km across the Bayankala Mountains and then
on to northwest China.
At a symposium in Beijing in 2006 officials from the Yellow River Water Resources
Committee called for preparatory steps to be taken swiftly to hasten the construction of this
route of the project. It has been predicted that an additional 4.5 billion cubic
metres of
water will be required by 2030 to maintain economic growth in the region with its booming
population and major construction and development projects.
South
–
to
–
north water diversion project funding
Construction costs of the eastern and central ro
utes is estimated to be 254.6bn yuan
($37.44bn). China has reserved 53.87bn yuan ($7.9bn) for the south
–
to
–
north water
diversion project. Of the 53.87bn yuan, the central government has budgeted 15.42bn,
special funds in treasury bonds from central governm
ent accounts for 10.65bn yuan, and
local governments are funding 7.99bn yuan. Loans will contribute 19.81bn yuan for the
project.
The construction costs of the project have drastically changed due to hikes in commodity
prices, changes in the national poli
cy and investment structures of the project. Around
30.48bn yuan of the earmarked amount has been spent for the construction of eastern
(5.66bn yuan) and central routes (24.82bn yuan).
Water diversion project environmental concerns
Like China’s other mega
–
project
–
the Three Gorges Dam
–
the diversion scheme has
provoked many environmental concerns, principally regarding the loss of antiquities, the
displacement of people and the destruction of pasture land.
“China’s water diversion scheme has provoked man
y
environmental concerns.”
In addition, plans for further industrialisation along the routes of the project pose a serious
risk of pollution to the diverted water.
To help counter this threat, the Chinese Government has earmarked just over $80m for
Jiangd
u, Huai’an, Suqian and Xuzhou, in the east of Jiangsu Province to build treatment
facilities
–
though estimates suggest that the actual cost is more than double this figure.
Overall, around 260 projects have been instigated to reduce pollution and help en
sure that
water in the areas of the diversion project will meet minimum drinking standards.
Key water diversion project players
The South
–
to
–
North Water Transfer Project Company is the project owner, with pre
–
project
construction work being done by Hanjian
g Water Resources and Hydropower. Project
management is being performed by the State Development and Planning Commission, the
Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Construction, the State Environment Protection
Administration and China International
Engineering Consultant Corporation.
GCW Consulting are providing infrastructure development plans. Haihe Water Resources
Commission and Tianjin Hydroelectric Investigation and Design Institute are responsible for
the design and planning for the Eastern R
oute; Changjiang Water Resources Commission for
the Middle Route and the Yellow River Conservancy Commission for the Western Route.
Construction is being done by Hanjiang Water Resources and Hydropower on the Eastern
Route and Danjiangkou Water Resources a
nd Hydroelectric are building the Middle Route.
In addition, many of the country’s ministries, organisations and institutes were also involved
during the 50
–
year period of extensive planning and research to turn Mao’s initial concept
into the current schem
e of work.